Thursday will offer more corporate results to help gauge the health of the U.S. economy. Rite Aid reported quarterly results before the open in line with expectations, and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) will announce its results after markets close.

Economy: The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose unexpectedly to 380,000 in the latest week, up from a revised reading of 367,000, which was also revised higher.

But separate reports showed no increase in overall wholesale prices in March, which was better than the 0.2% increase forecast, and the nation’s trade deficit declined unexpectedly in February.

Companies: Shares of McKesson (MCK, Fortune 500) popped after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded the wholesale pharmaceutical company a contract worth about $4 billion a year to supply medication to VA facilities.

Rite Aid (RAD, Fortune 500) shares fell slightly after the drugstore chain reported a quarterly loss of 18 cents a share on $7.1 billion in revenue, in line with expectations.

Sony (SNE) said Thursday that it would be cutting 10,000 jobs during the 2012 fiscal year as it seeks to revitalize its struggling business. The electronics maker warned earlier this week that its annual loss would be twice as large as its prior forecast, blaming write-offs of deferred tax credits.

Oaktree Capital Group (OAK) will start trading under the ticker OAK after the asset management firm raised $378 million through an initial public offering Wednesday. Oaktree sold 8.8 million shares at $43 apiece, the low end of its estimated range.

World markets: European stocks were little changed in afternoon trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 (UKX) was down 0.2%, while the DAX (DAX) in Germany was flat and France’s CAC 40 (CAC40) ticked down by 0.07%.